870,000 LED streetlights to be installed globally in 2010

TAIWAN: Focusing on the future of LED streetlight development, research institute LEDinside indicated that although streetlight standards have not been established and regulations of the product specifications are set according to different needs in different regions, LED streetlight becomes modulized, and intelligent control system of LED streetlight will be more complete.

It is estimated that a total of 870,000 units of LED streetlights will be installed in 2010, an increase of 42.62 percent compared to 610,000 in 2009.

From the global market perspective, LEDinside noted that LED streetlight standards around the world are still being drafted. Among these countries, the fastest in progress is in Taiwan, which launched the CNS 15233 LED streetlight standards.

China’s street lighting requirements are still applicable to the CJJ45 traditional streetlight standards, while LED streetlight projects of other governments are still being regulated in the form of standards. LED streetlight standards in the United States and Europe are still being drafted. Judging from the current standards of LED streetlight, there are strict requirements on the angle of light source, quality, and luminous decay.

Nevertheless, there are several distinct trends in the development of LED streetlights in 2010. According to LEDinside, the advantages of using LED modulize are that they are easy to replace and can reduce the maintenance costs.

Therefore, more and more LED streetlight vendors have introduced modular LED streetlight products, and some of the vendors have integrated the heat sink, optic, mechanic, and electric into a single module, while others are in the form of light source module separated from the thermal dissipation.

Another important trend is the LED streetlight intelligent control system, noted LEDinside. The current intelligent control system adjusts the brightness of the LED streetlight according to the road conditions, such as whether pedestrians or cars pass by, thereby increasing the service life of LED streetlight and conserving energy.

The intelligent system can be self-sufficiently powered by solar or wind power, without relying on municipal electricity, which is suitable for off-grid applications in remote areas. In future development, the intelligent system will automatically adjust brightness, color, and angle, and even allow real-time monitoring.

As for the policies, currently the most active countries in developing LED streetlights are China and Taiwan. However, both governments’ subsidy policies shifted in 2010. Taiwan government has accomplished the mission of supporting the development of LED streetlight manufacturers through several policies. Hence, the subsidies for the LED industry in 2010 will be shifted from LED streetlights to other LED applications such as road signs, traffic lights, and other related purposes.

China installed around 250,000 streetlights in 2009, and LEDinside estimates that China’s LED streetlight market will grow by 60 percent, reaching over 400,000 lamps. In 2010, the Chinese government's subsidy policies for the LED industry have also shifted from outdoor lighting to indoor lighting.

Unlike the situation in China, the United States government has not initiated a large-scale LED streetlight subsidy program. Each state government or power company promotes its own subsidy program. In terms of progress, the project proposed by Los Angeles in early 2008 was the most remarkable – an installation of 140,000 LED streetlights in five years.

Los Angeles has up to 209,000 streetlights, which is the nation's second largest next to New York City. Since the initiation of the project in 2008, conventional streetlights have been replaced by LED streetlights at the rate of 30,000 units per year.